The Shell Collector: Stories

Anthony Doerr is an amazing talent. His chronological age (28) does not match his literary acumen, for here is a new writer who knows his craft so well that he is destined to be one of the more important authors of his generation ... and beyond.In THE SHELL COLLECTOR Doerr has assembled short stories that are wide ranging in locale and in content. How he is able to convey with such clarity the terrain and atmosphere of Liberia, Finland, Bavaria, Ohio etc may be credited to his own travels, but I think it is more a credit to his gifts of creating backdrops for his dramas. The young man is so in tune with nature that in a few words he is able to descibe the advent of spring, the caustic stillness of winter, the miracles of ocean life and seeds becoming plants as well as the domain of butterflies. His characters are driven in a synchronicity with natural forces to the extent that at times we are left to ponder whether the human with a name is more the main character than the land wherein he dwells.Another aspect of the excitement these stories generate lies in the incredible tales themselves. There are no usual rehashs of familiar prototypes: each story is a cosmos rarely explored. Combine the magic of his limitless imagination with the glory of his writing skills and see if you don't agree that this is a Major New Voice in American literature. One waits for an extended novel without any concomittent fear that he will be able to produce it. Bravo!

Man and nature. Writers have struggled to make sense of this tortured relationship since the beginning of literature. Lesser authors might shy away from attempts to tread the same hallowed ground explored by titans like Hemingway, Steinbeck or Faulkner. But Anthony Doerr, in "The Shell Collector," succeeds on his own quiet and gentle merits in portraying the pathos of human beings separated from their natural selves by the forces of civilization.By and large each story here is a gem, revolving around a central, singular, simple character with a magical nature. In the title story, a blind recluse in the south seas becomes an unlikely and reluctant healing guru by way of a heretofore venemous shellfish. Doerr renders the man's heartache with graceful, stunning empathy as his life careens away from him, and then circles around and back, a necessary cycle of pain and redemption.The rest of the book opens up the themes introduced with such loving artistry in the first story. "The Hunter's Wife" and "Mkondo" both weave tales about women separated by marriage from their true selves like Persephone from Demeter, living with men whose love they accept, but live to regret. In "Mkondo", the bride, removed from her home in sub-Sarahan Africa, laments of her new environment: "Nothing grew, nothing lived; even the light seemed dead, falling from naked bulbs screwed into the ceiling." From her musings Doerr evokes the vision of a vibrant, colorful plant dessicating under false sunlight.The most powerful and and haunting story of the collection is "The Caretaker." A refugee from the Liberian civil war loses his mother and his way of life, washes up on the shores of Oregon, and carves out a new existence for himself on the inhospitable grounds of a software mogul's estate. Broken, haunted by the violent real-life nightmares that drove him from his home, Joseph Saleeby seeks solace in hiding, tending a garden fertilized by the gargantuan remains of a beached whale. His sense of life comes back to dazzling color as the garden germinates: "By mid June the stems of his plants are inches high..the buds have separated into delicate flowers; what loooked like a solid green shoot was actually a tightly folded blossom. He feels like shouting with joy". But there's another encounter in store for Joseph, one that will bring him yet again into a denatured world where he must prove his mettle.Two of the stories--"For a Long Time This Was Griselda's Story" and "July 4th"--are a little less accessible than the others, though no reader will soon forget the unique talents of the metal eater in "For a Long Time..." "July 4th" seems more derivative than the others. It recounts the misadventures of a group of Americans as they search for the best fishing venue in Eastern Europe. Sound like a lost generation, anyone?But these are quibbles. Even the weaker stories teach important lessons. The price of renouncing our natures is a high one, the author seems to say. But it may be inevitable in the course of human life, and it may even purchase a round trip ticket right back to where we belong. And the journey, for all its pain and trauma, can be magical.

If you were to tell me that The Shell Collector features mostly stories about people who find majesty, wonder, awe, and rejuvenation through the Mystery of Nature, I would roll my eyes and dismiss the story collection as a precious sentimental meditation on the natural world worthy of a Hallmark Card. However, the aforementioned themes are rendered with expertise, vigor, and indeed pure poetic prose so that even a cynic like myself was able to surrender to Doerr's magical stories. Here are some highlights:1. The Shell Collector: A scientist who collects shells lives like a hermit in a isolated coastal land in Kenya where he discovers an elixir, derived from a sea snail, which forces him to contemplate the manner in which civilization usurps all of nature's wonders for its commercial purposes.2. The Hunter's Wife: A man takes his wife into the barren wilderness where she eventually leaves him to pursue a career as a celebrity New Age figure.3. The Caretaker: An African refugee who has seen unspeakable evil during civil war and has been coerced into doing something that violates his conscience moves to an ocean house in Oregon where he learns, through the help of a young woman, to find his redemption.4. Mkondo: A white fossil hunter goes to Tanzania where he becomes obsessed with a young African woman whom he marries and takes back to Ohio. There the woman languishes in despair until she finds her vocation in photography, which brings her closer to nature.Over and over again, Doerr pits the vulgarity and soul-sapping forces of civilization with the pure spiritual powers of nature as his characters attempt to straddle both worlds.For a thematic companion to Doerr's stories, you might want to look into the 1971 film masterpiece, set in Australia, called The Walkabout, which wonderfully is now available on DVD.

Second book I've read by this author and enjoyed it as much as the first. "All the Light We cannot See" was my first experience. Recommend both.

I loved Doerr’s novel All the Light We Cannot See. But these short stories are just so-so. Kinda boring with no satisfactory conclusion.